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56th Congress, i HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
-2d Session. I 



i Document 
I No. 520. 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



LIFE AND CHARACTER 



U 



HOFFECKER 



(Late a Representative from I>- law w e , 



DEI.IVERKlt IN THE 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATE, 



> I FT Y-S I X T H (. ( < X < , K E S S , 
Seci ind Session. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
I9OI. 



■ ■ 1 » 



, 



JUL S' 



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TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Page. 

Proceedings in the House of Representatives 5 

Address of Mr. Lacey , of Iowa 8 

Address of Mr. Brosius, of Pennsylvania 14 

Address of Mr. Butler, of Pennsylvania 18 

Address of Mr. Hamilton, of Michigan 21 

Address of Mr. Capron, of Rhode Island 25 

Address of Mr. Hill, of Connecticut 27 

Address of Mr. Gibson, of Tennessee 30 

Address of Mr. Norton, of Ohio 37 

Address of Mr. Crumpacker, of Indiana 40 

Address of Mr. Miers, of Indiana 43 

Address of Mr. Sulloway, of New Hampshire 46 

Address of Mr. Shattuck, of Ohio 49 

Proceedings in the Senate 53 

Address of Mr. Kenney , of Delaware 56 

Address of Mr. McComas, of Maryland 60 

Address of Mr. Allen, of Nebraska 63 

Address of Mr. Heitfeld, of Idaho 66 

3 



JUL 20 1901 
D. of 0. 



Death of Hon, John H. Hoffecker. 



Proceedings in the House. 

December 3, 1900. 
Mr. Bingham. Mr. Speaker, I submit the following reso- 
lution. 

The Clerk read as follows : 

Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow of the death 
of Hon. John H. Hoffecker, a member of this House from the State of 
Delaware. 

The resolution was unanimously agreed to. 

January 10, 1901. 

Mr. Bingham. Mr. Speaker, I move that February the 16th, 
at 4 o'clock p. m., be set aside for eulogies and tributes of 
respect to the late John H. Hoffecker, a member of this 
House from the State of Delaware. 

The Speaker. The gentleman from Pennsylvania moves 
that February 16, at 4 o'clock p. m., be set apart for eulogies 
on the late John H. Hoffecker, from the State of Delaware. 

* 

Is there objection? [After a pause.] The Chair hears none, 
and it is so ordered. 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES. 

February 16, 1901. 

The Speaker. The Chair lays before the House the spe- 
cial order for this afternoon at 4 o'clock, which the Clerk will 
report : 

The Clerk read as follows: 

On motion of Mr. Bingham, by unanimous consent, it was ordered 
that Saturday, February 16, at 4 o'clock p. m., be set aside for eulogies 
and tributes of respect to the late John H. Hoffecker, a member of 
the House of Representatives from the State of Delaware. 

Mr. Lacey. I offer the resolutions which I send to the 
Clerk's desk. 

The resolutions were read, as follows: 

Resolved, That the business of the House be now suspended that 
opportunity may be given for tribute to the memory of Hon. John H. 
Hoffecker, late a member of the House of Representatives from the 
State of Delaware. 

Resolved, That as a particular mark of respect to the memory of the 
deceased, and in recognition of his eminent abilities as a distinguished 
public servant, the House, at the conclusion of these exercises, shall 
stand adjourned. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the 
Senate. 

Resolved, That the Clerk be instructed to send a copy of these reso- 
lutions to the family of the deceased. 

The resolutions were agreed to. 

7 



Life and Character of John //. Hoffecker. 



ADDRESS OF MR. LACEY, OF IOWA. 

Mr. Speaker: From sturdy German ancestry John Henry 
Hoi FECKER traced his descent, and his family resided in Kent 
County, Del., from a period antedating the war of the American 
Revolution. He was the oldest sou of Joseph and Rachel Van 
Gassen Hoffecker. He was born September 12, 1827, on his 
father's farm, near Smyrna, and was educated in the s hools oi 
that town. A devoted Christian, he was attached to the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church from his boyhood. His was a busy and 
useful life. For years he was a member of the Smyrna school 
board, and for a large part of the time its president. He was 
often commissioner, and for years was president of the board. 
From the organization of the Fruit-Growers' National Hank, in 
[876, he was one of the directors, and for the past eight years 
its president. He was president of the Philadelphia and Smyrna 
Transportation Company. He was elected a member of the 
Delaware house of representatives in [888, and at it-- session he 
was elected as speaker of the house. 

lb was a director of the Delaware Railroad Company, of the 
Kent County Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and Smyrna 
Building and Loan Association. Two years ago he was elected 
to represent Delaware in Congress, defeating the Hon. L. Irving 
Handy. At the adjournment of the first session of the Fifty- 
sixth Con- ress he returned to Smyrna to resume his active 
life, but on the morning of the 16th of June. [900, he was 
stricken with apoplexy and passed to his final reward. He 

joined Asburv Church in l.s.j,, and has been, during the years 
of his life, superintendent of the Sunday school, trustee. 



Address of Mr. Lacey, of Iowa. g 

steward, class leader, district steward, and for the past ten 
years treasurer of the board of stewards of the Wilmington 
conference. 

May 19, 1853, he was married to Annie E., daughter of the 
late John Appleton, of Odessa, Del., and of this marriage there 
were born four children, who survive him — Walter 0., John A., 
J. Edwin, and Mrs. H. P. Hall. His wife died June 20, 1881, 
and on March 21, 1883, he was married to Mrs. Charlotte J., 
widow of Joseph H. Hoffecker. 

From 1875 to 187S Mrs. Hoffecker was a teacher in the 
mission school at Fuchau, China, where she was a member 
of the family of her sister, who is the wife of the Rev. S. L. 
Baldwin. The funeral services were held in Asbury Church, 
and during the service the business of the town was sus- 
pended. The business places and factories were closed. 

Such is a brief outline of the history of the man whom we 
honor to-day. 

Dr. Johnson says that we should, as we grow older, keep 
our friendships in repair by forming new ones to take the 
place of those severed by distance or by death. 

As we grow older this becomes more and more difficult, and 
especially with men engaged in an active business life, the 
hurry and pressure constantly distracting them from social 
comforts. 

In a sea voyage, embarkation in the same vessel, for a time 
with all communication with the outside world cut off, turns 
the attention of the passengers to each other and a speedy 
acquaintance ensues. But in the activity of Congressional life 
the associations of members are not intimate, unless they are 
thrown into the intimacy of committee work, where they obtain 
a closer view of those men with whom official duties have for 
a time brought them in contact. 



io Life and Character of John //. Hoffecker. 

Length of service in this Ixxly brings with it a kindlier feel- 
ing toward political adversaries. Those who have served sev- 
eral terms in this House all bear witness that with each 
recurring session party animosity becomes mollified and a 
friendlier feeling arises between political opponents. 

In public life we constantly witness the rapid disappearance 
of the old and the conquering approach of the new. The 
waves of human life are ever beating on the shores of the 
eternal. As the day draws near its close the shadow grows 
longer, but its disappearance is only the more certain. 

When I fii>t visited Westminster Abbey the tombstones in 
the green churchyard were mossy and stained with age; but ill 
a returning visit, a few years later, I found that the stones had 
been laid low, the rounded hillocks leveled, and the tide of 
living humanity in the busy city swept over the bones of the 
dead. 

As one by one our colleagues fall by the way we turn aside 
to do them honor. I have ties that connect me with the State of 
Delaware: for. more than two hundred years ago, my ancestors 
lived within its borders. Near Georgetown, on the old farm, 
under a giant grapevine in the old burying ground, lie the 
remains .if my great-grandfather, and of his father also, both 
soldiers in the war of the American Revolution. 1 have there- 
fore watched tile material and politic. il progress of that little 

State with great pei onal interest, and when John H. Hof- 
fecker came to the national capital as a Representative of 
Delaware I at once formed an acquaintance with him, which 
so, in ripened into friendship, but which was too soon terminated 
by his sudden death. 

He died full of years and honored by his fellow-men, and 
his people showed their love for his memory by selecting his 
son to succeed him. He was one of those plain, practical men 



Address of Mr. Lacey, of Iowa. n 

of that moral and mental fiber that has done so much for the 
upbuilding of our nation, morally as well as materially. Men 
like him, who do their simple duty, never seeking notoriety by 
unusual or startling methods, content to perform without dis- 
play the work they have to do, are the best and safest public 
servants. 

In politics he was an old-line Whig, and then a Republican. 
In religion he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. He was always active in business, religious, and po- 
litical life. Whether as a farmer, manager of a transportation 
company, president of a bank, railway director, Sunday-school 
superintendent, speaker of the Delaware house of representa- 
tives, or as a member of Congress, he was always at his post 
doing his best for his fellow-men. 

Death found him full of vigor, engaged in all the active 
duties of his busy life, and garnered him as a ripened sheaf for 
the eternal harvest. The world is better for his life. 

When the soul leaves the confines of this life and approaches 
the borders of eternity, we watch the lips of the dying for the 
last token of love, and with hopes of some glimpse of the great 
mystery that lies beyond. We treasure these words for our 
future comfort and instruction. 

Grant's dying words were long drawn out. He finished his 
Memoirs on his deathbed, and left them for a support to his 
widow and as a message to his countrymen. "A dying man 
can do nothing easy," said the philosophic Franklin. On July 
4, 1826, John Adams, at Ouincy, said, as he breathed his last, 
" Thomas Jefferson still survives;" but Jefferson had just be- 
fore solved the last problem as he said, " I resign my spirit to 
God and my daughter to my country." They were not his 
dying words, but the last words of Forrest, the actor, on the 
stage, were from "Richelieu:" 



12 Life and Character of John H. Hoffecker, 

There is One at)ove 
Sways the harmonious mystery of the world 
Even better than prime ministers. Alas! 
Our glories float between the earth and heaven 
Like clouds that seem pavilions of the sun. 
And are the playthings of the casual wind. 
Still, like the cloud that drops on unseen crags 
The dews the wild Sowers feed on, our ambition 
May from its airy heights drop gladness down 
On unsuspected virtue, and the flower 
May bless the cloud when It hath passed away. 

Then, looking at his audience, lie said, "Ami so it ends:' 
Palmer was playing "The Stranger." "There is another 
and a better world,'' he said, and dropped lifeless. 

Peterson, a-- he was playing "Measure for Measure," said: 

Reason thus with life ; 

If I do lose thee, I do lose a thing 

That none but fends would keep; a breath thou art — 

And tell dead. 

Cunrarings was taking his part in "Jane Shore" and died 
as he recited the words — 

He witness for me, ye celestial hosts; 
Show mercy and such pardon as my soul 

orded to thee, anil begs of heaven to show thee. 
May such befall me at my latest hour. 

When John Murray Foster had become so weak that he 
could not speak he heat time with his hand when he heard 
the strains of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. 

Said Admiral I'oote : "We must have charity, charity, 
charity." 

"Excuse me, Doctor, for a few minutes," said Patrick 
1 [enry. 

"I know that my Redeemer Liveth," said Horace Greeley. 

"That is better, thank you," were the last words of 
« (liver Wendell Holmes. 



Address of Mr. Lacey, of Iowa. 13 

"When will this end? " said Washington Irving. 

' ' Let us cross over the river and rest under the shadow of 
the trees," said Stonewall Jackson. 

" We will meet in heaven," said Andrew Jackson. 

Lincoln's last remembered words were as he was going to the 
theater and said to Schuyler Colfax, " Good-bye." 

Gen. Samuel Houston last coupled the name of his State with 
that of his wife: ' ' Texas — Texas — Margaret. ' ' 

" I am at enmity with no man," said Gen. John A. Dix. 

"It is the last of earth; I am content," were the famous 
words of John Quincy Adams. 

' ' An emperor should die standing, ' ' said Vespasian. 

"How grand is the sunlight," said Humboldt. 

Said Keats: " I feel the flowers growing over me." 

Senator Isham J. Harris and Lord Macaulay both said, "I 
am tired. ' ' 

" God bless you, ray dear," said Samuel Johnson. 

"It is nothing," said King Humbert as the assassin's knife 
pierced his heart. Henry the Fourth said the same as he felt 
the blade of Ravaillac. 

"Head of the army," murmured Napoleon. 

As Washington died he said, "It is well." 

It was indeed well with him, the most honored man that has 
ever lived and died. Death has an appointment for each of us 
that we are bound to keep. Without knowing the time or 
place, we hurry on. 

John H. Hoffecker left us no parting words. In solitude 
the last summons came, and he slept in silence. His parting 
message was undelivered. 

But his life speaks to surviving friends, and all will remem- 
ber him as he lived rather than as he died, for he so lived that 
death could not find him unprepared. 



14 Life and Character of John II. Hoffecker, 



ADDRESS OF MR. BROSIUS, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

Mr. Speaker: When Tell's arrow pierced the breast of the 
tyrant Gessler, and he lay bleeding and dying in the moun- 
tain pass, he was surrounded by a company of Friars of Mercy 
who happened to be passing, who sang these hues: 

With noiseless tread death comes on man; 

No plea, mi prayer delivers him; 
From midst of busy life's unfinished plan. 

With sudden hand it severs him. 
And ready or nut ready, no delay, 

Forth to his Judge's bar he must away. 

The literature of every race contains reminders of this most 
profoundly impressive of all the facts of nature, which the 
Arabs expressed in their well-known proverb: "Death is a 
camel that kneels at every man's door." 

I crave a brief indulgence on this occasion to mingle my 
voice with the swelling anthem of affectionate eulogy because 
I respected and honored our departed friend while living, and 
I feel a sincere and reverential regard for his memory. The 
duration of his life, the usefulness of his labors, the benevo- 
lence of his feelings, the elevation of his sentiments, and the 
nobility of his character united to form an attractive and 
interesting personality and a career instructive and admirable 
in a high degree. 

His brief service in this House afforded no opportunity for 
the exhibition of am- marked aptitude for the higher ranges 
oi statestaanship, but his attention to the wants of his con- 
stituents and his tireless devotion to duty accentuated that 
fidelity which marks the successful Representative on this 

flooi and furnished an example quite worthj oi imitation. 



Address of Mr. Brosius, of Pennsylvania. 15 

His kindly and sympathetic nature, his graces of mind and 
heart, amiability of character, sweetness of disposition, gentle- 
ness of manner, and fine courtesy made conquest of universal 
esteem and placed him high in the hearts of those who had 
the good fortune to know him. His constituents appreciated 
and loved him. They knew his diligence in their service; 
the>- knew that the command of duty was to him a "thus 
saith the Lord;" that no draft made upon him in any matter 
whose claim he recognized would ever go to protest. So 
the}- trusted him and were never betrayed; confided in him 
and found him worth}-. 

The lesson such a career, brief as it was, teaches appeals to 
all of us, that the only way for a Representative to securer- 
hold the confidence and affection of his constituents is in the 
demonstration of his worthiness by integrity, fidelity, industry, 
and efficiency in their service. 

Mr. HoFFECKER was a man of light and leading in his com- 
munity. He was a gentleman of the old school, courtly and 
polished in manners, with an attractive personality that com- 
manded universal respect. The variety and prominence of the 
positions he held of a business, social, and ecclesiastical charac- 
acter denoted the commanding influence he exerted in his com- 
munity. When he was laid to rest, the chief mourner was the 
town in which he had dwelt. In recognition of his private 
worth and public services all places of business were closed. 
"Grand, good Christian gentleman! No unkind word was 
ever spoken of him," said one who had known him for main- 
years. "A noble, Christian man, a counselor always safe, an 
honored and trusted citizen," said another. "One of God's 
noblemen, always engaged in love and good works," said 
another old acquaintance. His sterling manhood, exalted 
character, and broad Christian spirit gave him the deserved 



16 Life and Character of John 11. Hqffecker. 

preeminence he enjoyed in the State he so faithfully repre- 
sented for a brief period on this floor. 

Our departed friend reached and passed the bounds of man's 
ippointed years. The mysterious clock which the angel of life 
wound up to run three score years and ten and gave the key to 
the angel of the resurrection, as beautifully suggested by Dr. 
Holmes, ran a little beyond the appointed time. 

Death came unheralded. We heard the rustle and saw the 
shadow of his wings, and it was over. "As the shadows steal 
at evening over the earth, softly closing the flowers and touch- 
ing them to sleep, silently and lovingly in the promise of a 
bright waking." so he fell asleep. Nature, with a little rude- 
ness in her touch, perhaps, disengaged the vital chord, and he 
'passed serenely into rest on the other shore of that mysteri- 
ous sea that never yet has borne on any wave the image of a 
homeward sail." 

The suddenness of his taking off is a circumstance not wholly 
without comfort. To one who is ready I can not but feel with 
Ruskin that death is the comforter and friend bringing in his 
right hand rest, and in his left hope. It is not uncommon in 
our day to hear the desire expressed for a sudden death. Dr. 
Holmes once said, when he read of some one being taken off 
quickly, it made his mouth water. I am sure our departed 
friend in every way answered the description contained in the 
poet's lines, which voice my own feelings: 

When faith and patience, hope and love, 
Have made us meet t'<>r heaven above, 

Hciw blest the privilege tn rise, 
Snatched in a moment t<> the skies; 
Unconscii ,us to resign our breath 
Nor taste the bitterness of <lr;ith. 

Hi is gone; but he left behind him for our instruction 
-s,,n of a beautiful life of sympathy and service. To 



Address of Mr. Bros/us, of Pennsylvania. 17 

contemplate and emulate it is the only way to make it profit- 
able to us. Death comes like a faithful schoolmaster, with 
the open book of a closed life, and assigns the lesson which we 
must study or lose its teaching. There is a " golden text ' ' in 
the lesson of this dutiful and beautiful life which we may all 
study with profit. 

And now, as we leave the contemplation of onr departed 
friend, those who loved him best can carry with them the con- 
solatory reflection "that while green grass will cover his grave, 
blue skies bend over it, sweet birds sing near it, and the place 
will be hallowed ground, yet greener than the grass, fairer than 
the skies, sweeter than the birds, more hallowed than the grave 
itself will be his fragrant memory, enshrined with supreme 
sacredness in their heart of hearts." 
H. Doc. 520 2 



iS Life and Character of John II. Hojj 



Address of Mr. Butler, of Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Speaker: My acquaintanceship with Mr. Hoffeckjer 
was short, but sufficiently long to enable me to speak of him, 
and sufficiently close to induce me. His Congressional dis- 
trict bordered on mine, and I was officially his nearest neigh- 
bor, although I did not know him but by repute until he 
became a member of this House and took his seat beside me. 
I then found what his neighbors and friends had said of him to 
be true, because lie was sincere. 1 discovered that the reputa- 
tion which they had caused to precede him he had well earned, 
because he was always faithful. 

I soon learned that Mr. HOFFECKEE was a man of high 
character, without affectation, in love with his own people, 
about whom he constantly thought, and I saw in him the 
qualifications which had enabled him to change the political 
complexion of a State and secure a majority in his favor. 

He was firm at all times, but possessed a desire to acquire 
such knowledge as would the better prepare him for the 
duties of a Representative. 

He made friends quickly and readily, because nature had 
[j lit him social qualities unattended by selfish ambitions. 
His honesty made him unsuspicious, and his frankness of 
spirit invited to his side all men of similar character. 

1 have heard it said that the great confidence which the 
li of Delaware had in Mr. HOFFECKEF was not gained 
alone by a long acquaintanceship with him. but by the 
natural integrity which was his characteristic property, and 
which immediatel) impressed everyone who chanced to meet 
him. 



Address of Mr. Butler, of Pennsylvania. 19 

The people of his native State had often honored him with 
public place, and his business associates were always ready to 
bestow their confidences upon him. 

He lived for three-quarters of a century in the immediate 
vicinity of the place where he was born, and the testimony 
of all the people around and about united in the expression 
that he had alwa)*s lived a "perfect man." 

He had been a kind friend to all his neighbors, gentle and 
patient to those in distress, and helpful to those who had not 
been at all times fortunate. He was strong in senses and body, 
and his hand was always stretched to those who deserved its 
support. 

His steadiness of habit, together with his constant fairness, 
made him a natural leader of his own people. His quickness 
of observation and his determination to be in the right, com- 
mended him to the contesting and conflicting factions and ele- 
ments which surrounded him. His party, rent asunder by bit- 
ter conflict, turned to him in despair, and he responded. His 
modesty made him hesitate iu the assumption of duties untried 
by him. 

He brought with him to Congress the affection for his State 
which had absorbed him while he had lived therein. He 
brought with him the simple habits of life which had marked 
him when he was known as a plain country gentleman. He 
brought with him the same ideas of industry and sobriety which 
had distinguished him at home. He brought with him the 
same strong common sense, the same politeness of manner, and 
the same confiding gentility that had protracted the esteem of 
his neighbors, kinsmen, associates, and friends, attested by their 
allegiance all through his busy life. 

While Mr. Hoffecker was an aggressive partisan, he did 
not array himself against men, but against measures, and only 



20 Life and Character of John II. Hoffecker. 

against those measures which reflection convinced him were 
not for his country's good. 

Without parade or demonstration, he was moved in all his 
public conduct by patriotic devotion, and had so well disci- 
plined himself that submission to the will of the majority was 
always accepted by him without manifestations of annoyance 
or displeasure. 

His great respect for the opinions of sensible men impressed 
me soon after I first knew him, and his tolerance of the weak- 
nesses of others added to the attractiveness which always sur- 
rounded him. He was proud of his whole constituency, and 
on all occasions spoke well of each member of it. 

His ways were genial, and the welfare of mankind seemed to 
have complete control of him in his efforts to establish it. He 
made no pretense to brilliancy, and his methods were those 
employed by public men of a past generation, whose ambition 
seldom led them beyond paths where glamour and romance and 
selfish greed were seldom found to offer their temptations. 

It is well for society that he had lived, because its conditions 
are always improved by the existence of such men as he. It 
was an advantage to me to know him. even for so short a 
season, as he labored here with industry and success for the 
betterment of both his Government and his State. 



Address of Mr. Hamilton, of Michigan. 21 



Address of Mr. Hamilton, of Michigan. 

Mr. Speaker: I never attempt to speak on an occasion like 
this but that I am impressed with the futility and inade- 
quacy of words. 

The man who for seventy-three years held a place among 
men has gone, and the place that knew him shall know him 
no more forever. 

The ship of state never stops at the cry of "man overboard." 

The business world scarcely stops to see the crepe on the 
door of bereavement. In cities the hearse trots to the grave- 
yard and the pallbearers hurry back to their round of busi- 
ness till they also shall be summoned. 

I knew John H. Hoffecker as one member of Congress 
knows another. Men come to sit in Congress generally as 
political ephemera who must make way for the next man in 
the line of political succession, each man individually making 
some slight impression upon the aggregate grist of laws which 
the whole body grinds out. 

By the accident of the drawing of seats or juxtaposition on 
committees some few learn to know one another somewhat. 

In this way I knew and liked John H. Hoffecker. He 
was a man of kindly personality and genial manner, and 
"manners are not idle, but the fruit of loyal nature and of 
noble minds." He was an honorable man, a trustworthy man, 
a manly man, and that which comprehends all these traits, a 
Christian gentleman. 

He was intimately identified with the life and development 
of his home city and his native State. 

His ancestors have lived in Kent County, Del., from a time 
before the Revolution. 



22 Life and Character of John II. Hoffech. r. 

Somewhere in Daniel Deronda, George Eliot says "a human 
life should be well rooted in some spot of native land where it 
may get the- love of tender kinship for the face of earth." 

John H. Hoitkckkk'k whole life work was identified with 
his native Stat 

It is needless to_ file an inventory of the positions which he 
held in connection with various corporate interests and other- 
wise in the building up and improvement of his city and his 
State. His life was full and busy and honorable. In addition 
to his arduous and exacting business pursuits he was .a member 
of the Delaware general assembly and as such was elected 
speaker of the house, and finally he became a member of 
Congress. 

He has left the invaluable impress of an honorable indus- 
trious life upon the community in which he lived. 

And now, having said this, of what value is it? No enco- 
miums which we may utter here can add to the just esteem in 
which his people held him. Of what avail is the pageantry of 
the grave, the sermon, the eulogy, and the requiem? 

Certainly it is nothing to him who is dune with it all. 

And yet mankind can never lay away its dead without some 
testimonial of its grief, some lessons from the life that is gone, 
and some words of hope for the future. 

The scientific mind of the nineteenth century has s, ,lved 
many mysteries, but the mystery of birth and death remains .is 
impenetrable as ever. It has unraveled many knots, "but not 
the Master-knot of human fate." 

The mysterj of the tangled web of human existence is as 
deep as ever. The curious, inexplicable, and apparently 
unt. m adjustment or failure of adjustment of earthly rewards 
and punishments, the curious logic of dishonest premises and 
prosperous conclusions, of flushed and successful aggressiveness 



Address of Mr. Hamilton, of Michigan. 23 

in high places, of modest worth without recognition, of one 
man's struggle with ill health and another man's waste 
of robust physical power, of visiting the sins of the fathers 
upon the children, of being pushed by the dead hands of 
hereditary evil tendencies, or being hedged about by inherited 
good tendencies, of misplaced wealth and undeserved poverty, 
of fme-graiued, high-strung humanity crowded out and coarse- 
grained swinishness crowding in — all these things are inex- 
plicable to our limited human comprehension. 

And yet, out of it all, it is possible that perhaps the plan 
ma} - be the developing of human character. Possibly it may 
not be of lasting and supreme importance that we get rich. 
Possibly it may turn out that a schedule of earthly posses- 
sions may not make much impression on eternity. Possibly 
officeholding and political prominence may have no influence 
on final results. Perhaps the whole of life may finally settle 
down to the simple question of human character — the simple 
inquiry of what you are, not what you own. 

Queen Victoria died last month and was borne with impress- 
ive ceremonies to her last resting place, but in the democracy 
of the grave there are no trappings of empire. A coCin is a 
coffin, whether it be bare or lined with velvet, and if there be 
a resurrection — and this whole life would be a pitiful farce if 
there be no resurrection — the lowliest pauper who breathed his 
last in the British Empire the evening the Queen died must 
stand side by side with her at the resurrection, and neither 
rags nor crown can give distinction nor debasement. 

To suppose otherwise would be to suppose that the cheap 
truckling, the sycophancy, "the proud man's contumely," 
and all the rest of the incidents of our artificial human 
distinctions, and the incidents of the inventories of human 
possessions, would be "carried forward" beyond the grave, 



24 Life and Character of John If. Hojfecker. 

and tu suppose this would l>e to suppose a hereafter not 
worth having. 

Judged by the character standard from a human stand- 
point. John II. Hoffeckek could well hear analysis. 

His life was long and useful. His neighbors and business 
acquaintances believed and trusted him. Even in the heat 
of political controversy it is said no man spoke ill of him. 

Such a life is an inspiration to younger men to earnest 
endeavor and a legacy of pride to posterity. 

John H. Hoffeckek had grown gray in service. Some 
men there are who are dragged by the years, protesting, 
into old age; but his life was a steady evolution of a sturdy, 
robust, honest character. 

Time had laid his hand lightly upon him. In heart and 
spirit he was still young, and his gray hair was hut the im- 
pression of the hand of Time in giving him his benediction. 
ill says men fear death as children fear to £0 into 
the dark. There could have been no fear of death in 
thi* man's soul. He was grounded in a faith that hails 
tlie hour of death as the hour of dawn. 

X" higher encomium can be uttered of any man than can 
be caned upon John II. HoFFECKER'S tombstone and written 
in his eulogy, "IK- was an honest man and true, faithful 
unto death." 



Address of Mr. Capron, of Rhode Is 



•land. 25 



Address of Mr. Capron, of Rhode Island. 

Mr. Speaker : The passing of a good man is of interest 
to all who survive. A life which ends with an unbroken 
record of honesty, truth, honor, and patriotism, and, above 
all, a consistent Christian life, especially deserves the hour 
which is accorded here to recall the lesson such a life 
teaches. 

A modest, retiring, genial man came to represent the 
State of Delaware in the Fifty-sixth Congress. The record 
which preceded him told that the warring political factions 
in his State had united in unanimous support of Mr. 
Hoffecker, who accepted the nomination for Congress 
with hesitation, preferring to continue the peaceful and 
satisfying life which was the environment and atmosphere 
of his home and the community he loved and in which 
he lived. 

My life has had no more significant object lesson of 
the sufficient recompense of true Christian living than was 
afforded me by being permitted to attend the funeral serv- 
ices of our friend. His sudden taking off without a 
moment's warning created no concern in any heart as to 
his readiness to enter into the immortal life. The visible 
and profound grief of every man, woman, and child in the 
village of Smyrna upon the morning of Mr. Hoffecker's 
funeral was as apparent as the sunlight on that beautiful 
June day. The people walked with careful tread and down- 
cast eyes, red with tears, and with faces overcast with 
sorrow. The stores and shops and factories were all closed, 
and a more than Sabbath-day hush prevailed as the hour 



26 Lift and Character of John H . Hoffecker. 

for the services arrived. The whole people — black and 
white, high and low, rich and poor — of the community 
were seen wending their way to the church where the final 
obsequies were held. 

A good and pure life was reviewed by the pastors <>f the 
church with which Mr. HOFFECKER had actively lalwred 
throughout his life. One could but realize that the tentative 
results of earthly living had as much of earthly justification 
and satisfaction here as of ten comes toman. Here was a life 
which, in the words of another, had, perhaps, "nothing in it 
which the world calls great achievement, but a life benefi- 
cent to every other life which it touched like a summer wind 
laden with a thousand invisible seeds which, falling every- 
where, spring up into flowers and fruit." 

Most of earthly life is transitory and ephemeral, but we are 
taught that there are things which continue and are perma- 
nent; for while "now we know in part," while "now we see 
as through a glass darkly," there ate things which abide, 
now abideth faith, hope, and charity, these three, hut the 

test of these is charity," and John Henry Hoffei 
was richly possessed of charity for all the world. When this 
is said of a man, what more can lie added' All else is as 
"sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal." 

Love is kind anil suffers long, 
Lovi i- meek and think-, no wrong, 
Love than death itself more Strong; 

Therefore, give us love. 



Address of Mr. Hill, of Connecticut. 



Address of Mr. Hill, of Connecticut. 

Mr. Speaker: My tribute to the memory of John H. 
Hoffecker must be brief, as was my acquaintance with him. 

So far as the details of his life were concerned, I knew 
nothing; and yet, when I read the announcement of his 
death, I felt a sense of personal loss, for even the casual 
association of hotel life had caused me to respect and honor 
him as a man of deep convictions and unswerving rectitude. 

He was always bright and cheerful, seldom speaking of 
himself, but never boasting, and only referring to others in 
words of commendation. 

He seemed to be a man who had achieved success by his 
own efforts, and, content with life as he had shaped it for 
himself, had fully resolved to make it brighter and happier 
still for others. 

He was a gentleman in the true meaning of the word. 

Modest, unassuming, thoughtful of others' feelings, courte- 
ous, and kind, he commanded the respect and held the 
esteem of all who came in contact with him. He had the 
sense of wholesome humor well developed, and enjoyed a 
hearty laugh, but his speech was everywhere and always clean. 

I think that he was a warm friend to those who were 
friends to him and that he had the broadest charity for 
others. 

He chose always to excuse a fault rather than to criticise 
and be censorious. 

His words were few, his judgment keen and quick, and his 
conclusions sound. 

His clear, honest vision went straight through the sham and 



Life and Character of John II. Hoffecki > . 

pretense of modern life, and sought the true, the helpful, and 
the good in men. 

He acted conscientiously on every moral question, and by 

m of the fullness of his own experience he could not 
easily be wrong on others. 

Such men are needed in the American Congress. Men who. 
while representing their district and State faithfully and well 
and guarding their every interest, will yet feel that they will 
serve both best when acting for the highest good of our com- 
mon country. 

Such a man I judged John - H. HoFFECKER to be; and if I 
judged him rightly, his family, his State, and the nation will 
deeply feel his loss. 

I have referred thus far only to the life which this man 
lived in the sight of his fellow-men. 

There is another, which, if I mistake not, was to him even 
more full of joy and peace, and that was the inner life which 
he lived by faith in Jesus Christ. 

It was this divine life which so enriched the human and 
made it what it was. He did not wear it as a garment kept 
t it state occasions, hut he lived it every day. 

It- fruits are "low, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, 

dness, faith, meekness, temperance." 

Happy the man who can so join these two lives together 

the memory of both will always be a benediction to his 

fellow-men. 

It is a glorious triumph of the Christian faith that out oi a 

■ storm and struggle, of battle and of conquest, a man can 

bravely go to death with the sublime assurance of the Apostle, 

say i ng 

I have fought •> g 1 fight, I have finished uiy course, I have kept the 

faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me .1 crown "t" righteousness, 
which tin- I. "i'l. tin righteous judge, shall give me ;it that day. 



Address of Mr. Hill, of Connecticut. 29 

But to me it is a sweeter thought that such a man as John 
H. Hoffecker, in the full maturity of all his powers, with 
everything to make life pleasant and desirable, with larger 
opportunity for doing good than ever before, could calmly and 
peacefully look into the unknown, trusting only in that love 
which overleaps the bounds of time and reaches on into eter- 
nity, a love which knows no end. 



30 Life and Character of John H. Hoffecker, 



Address of Mr. Gibson, of Tennessee. 

Mr. Speaker: My acquaintance with Hon. John Hknkv 
Hoffecker began with the first session of the present Con- 
gress, when he appeared here as Representative of the State of 
Delaware; but short as was that acquaintance I had good op- 
portunities to learn much of his character and his qualities and 
habits, both as a man and as a statesman, as we served together 
on the Committee on Invalid Pensions, and I was chairman of 
his subcommittee. 

I was at once impressed with the massive build of his body. 
the majestic character of his countenance, and the calm dignity 
of his deportment. He was the only man I ever saw that 
resembled the portraits of George Washington, and on calling 
the attention of others to the fact, I was told that I did not 
stand alone as an observer of that resemblance. This fact 
caused me to view him with feelings somewhat akin to rever- 
ence, and I can say that no word or act of his during our whole- 
intercourse tended to lessen that feeling. 

<)n the last day of the last session, after the Hon-,, had 
adjourned and while main of the members were joining in 
national songs and farewell greetings, I was impressed by 
tlu solemn countenance of Mr. HOFFECKER, Standing OH 
the step near the Clerk's desk, gazing attentively upon the 
scene, and the thought then occurred to me, "What is that 
noble old man thinking?" Did he think, as no doubt 
others thought, whether lie would ever see another adjourn- 
ment? Was there any premonition of the close of his career 3 

So it was, in a few days I read in the papers that he 
had died suddenly from a stroke of apoplexy. I was pro- 
foundly shocked and deeply grieved. I felt that a 



Address of Mr. Gibso?i, of Tennessee. 31 

man, a useful citizen, a conscientious statesman, and a 
Christian patriot had been lost to our country. 

Mr. Hoffeckek was a great man; not great as wealth 
makes greatness, not great because of a lordly mansion and 
great possessions and many servants and pompous displays. 

Mr. Hoffecker was a great man; not great as war 
makes a man great, with victories won on fields of battle 
and blood, cities burned, and nations conquered. 

Mr. Hoffecker was a great man; not great as science 
makes men great by probing into the secrets of nature, read- 
ing the mysteries of the past and foreseeing the wonders of 
the future, and making known the realms of the unknown. 

Mr. Hoffecker was a great man; not great as oratory 
makes men great by swaying the minds of the multitude 
and winning their admiration and devotion, and causing the 
triumph of right over wrong. 

Mr. Hoffecker was a great man; not great by reason of 
wealth or military achievements, or scientific attainments or 
oratorical gifts; not great as men make a man, but great 
as God makes a man, great in the majesty of a supreme 
honesty, great in the performance of all the duties of a good 
neighbor, great in standing forward boldly in the advocacy 
of every good work, great as a promoter of practical Chris- 
tianity, great as the champion of a liberal education for the 
youth of his section, great as an organizer of business ele- 
ments for the common welfare and the general good. And, 
after all, these are the essential elements of a true greatness, 
a greatness that blesses all and injures none, a greatness 
that leaves a perfume of happy memories all over the land 
where he was known, for 

Only the actions of the just 

Smell sweet and blossom in the dust. 



32 Life and Character of John II. Hoffecker. 

Mr. Hoffecker was fortunate in his birth, fortunate in his 
life, and fortunate in his death. Born and raised on a farm, 
where nearly all of our greatest and best men are torn and 
raised, he was brought up in habits of industry, economy, and 
honesty. These are the three great equipments for the battle 
of life. They are to a young man what sword, helmet, and 
breastplate were to the Roman soldier, and he who has them is 
sure to will, while he who has them not is sure to lose, even 
though he start out in the race of life possessed of wealth and 
all the learning of the schools. Mr. HoFFECKER'S industry. 
economy, and integrity strengthened him every day all 
through his life, and not only crowned him with extraordinary 
business success, but made him a shining example of what any 
young man can accomplish if he persists in a course of honesty, 
industry, economy, and sobriety. 

Mr. HOFFECKER was fortunate in his life. Happy in his 
relations as husband, father, and neighbor, he early in his 
youth joined the church, and thus associated himself at tile 
outset with the best men and women of 1 1 i — ■ community, and at 
the same time commended himself to all as cine who loved 
righteousness and was resolved to walk in its ways. He 
served his church as trustee, steward, class leader, and super- 
intendent of tin- Sunday school. In business he was conserv- 
ative, but progressive also along safe lines. He showed a 
disposition to build up and benefit his community. He was 
president of the I-'ruit Growers' National Hank, president of the 
Philadelphia and Smyrna Transportation Company, director of 
the Delaware Railroad Company, of the Kent County Mutual 
Fire Insurance Company, and of the Smyrna Building and Loan 
Association. Indeed, he was a part and parcel of ever) great 

and worths' enterprise in his community, and was regarded as an 

anchor of safety to every institution of which he was a member. 



Address of Mr. Gibson, of Tennessee. 33 

But Mr. Hoffecker did not confine his energies and abili- 
ties to matters of private business; he was interested in public 
affairs and served his community as president of its school 
board and as president of the board of town commissioners. 
He was honored by his people with a seat in the general assem- 
bly of his State, and was honored by its house with the position 
of speaker. And, lastly, he was elected by the people of the 
State to represent them in this grand council chamber of the 
nation's representatives, and Delaware never had in this House 
a grander specimen of her manhood and citizenship. 

And Mr. Hoffecker was fortunate in his death. On the 
1 6th of June, 1900, he was nearly 73 years old, still vigorous in 
body and mind, crowned with many honors honorably won, 
possessed of ample estates, secure in the unlimited confidence of 
his people, happy in the knowledge that his country was entering 
upon a new century of progress and greatness, with a conscience 
void of offense against God and man, calm of spirit, hopeful of 
heart, he stepped as with one stride from the grand elevation on 
which he stood into the vestibule of the other world. When 
the messenger of death came to escort him hence there was no 
delay, no struggle to remain ; his life rose up and went its way. 

So sudden was Mr. Hoffecker's death, he might well have 
said with Mrs. Barbauld : 

Life ! We've been long together, 

Through pleasant and through cloudy weather ; 

"Tis hard to part when friends are dear, 

Perhaps 'twill cost a sigh, a tear. 

Then steal away ; give little warning — 
Choose thine own time ; 

Say not "Good night !" But in some brighter clime 
Bid me "Good morning!" 

Life left Mr. Hoffecker without warning. It bade no 
adieu. Death closed his eyes in this world and Life opened 
H. Doc. 520 3 



34 Life and Character of John H. Hoffecker. 

them in the other world, and greeted him with a happy "Good 
morning." 

U was my fortune to have served as chairman of a subcom- 
mittee of which Mr. Hoffecker was a member, and I was at 
once impressed by his earnest desire to get at the real fact-- of 
every case assigned to him and to reach a conclusion at once 
just to the Government and equitable to the claimant. If a 
million of dollars had been in question or the life or liberty >>f 
a person involved he could not have been more deliberate, 
cautious, painstaking, and conscientious than he was in inves- 
tigating and deciding a small pension case involving Su a 
month. His rule of action seems to have been that whatever 
was worth doing at all was worth doing well, and he rightly 
thought that the claim of an old soldier or of the widow of a 
soldier was entitled to as much consideration as the claim of a 
banker, contractor, merchant, or shipowner involving a hundred 
thousand dollars. 

JOHN H. HOFFECKER was what 1 would call a square man. 
He faced every responsibility fairly and squarely. He looked 
everything squarely in the face. His everj action was squared 
according to the rules of right. He lived square with the 
world, and died, as he had lived, square with his God, in so far 
as man can judge. 

Mr, Hoffecker was not a man t<> act on principles of 
[iency. He had a higher standard of duty and a grandei 
rule of action. With him conscience was an all-controlling 
factoi in determining his conduct. 

Expediency is an uncertain guide that may lead ns into 
tortuous, and it may be dangerous, paths. Neither is public 
opinion a sure sign of right unless it be based on the immutable 

principles of justice. The seaman who crosses the pathless 
seas, aiming for a particular port, does not allow his ship to 



Address of Mr. Gibson, of Tennessee. 35 

follow in the currents of the ocean, neither does he change his 
course according to the course of the winds. Should he follow 
the winds and currents, he would never see the haven he seeks, 
but would be borne hither and thither like a man lost in a 
pathless forest until he, his ship, and crew were all ingulfed 
beneath the remorseless waves. 

Neither can the mariner always trust to the stars for his 
guides, because they are not visible in time of storm. He must 
have a better guide than current or wind or stars if he would 
cross the ocean to the port he sails for; and he has that better 
guide, a guide not in the sea, not in the air, nor yet in the sky; 
but a guide in his own ship, and that guide the needle that 
trembles on the pivot of his compass, a guide that never errs, a 
guide the ocean currents can not perplex, a guide the most 
powerful tempest can not affect, a guide the stars themselves 
can not bewilder or mislead. 

This guide, and this guide only, does the helmsman of the 
ship follow; he looks neither up nor down, neither to the right 
nor to the left, but on the needle he fixes his steadfast gaze, 
and contrary currents ma}- flow, unfavorable winds may blow, 
the stars may be hidden from view and darkness impenetrable 
may encompass sea and sky, but by the aid of a little lamp he 
sees the slender needle trembling on its tiny pivot, and he feels 
strong and brave and steers his ship safely through all troubles, 
all difficulties, and all dangers across the wide ocean and into 
the very port he sailed for, and as he reaches the wharf he calls 
out to the captain of the port, "All is well," every passenger 
and every sailor and every pound of freight all safe on board. 

So, in times of great public excitement, we can not always 
trust the currents of popular feeling; we can not always 
allow ourselves to be governed by the passions of partisan- 
ship; we can not always trust to the guidance of the great 



3<S Life and Character of John If. Hoffecker. 

men of nthcr days, whc.se spirits shine like stars in the 
nation's sky. What. then, can we do? We can do like the 
sea captain. We can look at the needle of conscience that 
trembles on the pivot of duty, that God has put, like a 
compass, in our minds to he our guide — a needle illuminated 
by the light of intellect and beheld by the eye of a sobei 
reason. God has given the mariner the little needle of 
loadstone to guide him over the pathless oceans, and He 
riven us the needle of conscience to guide us over the 
ocean of life in the path of duty to the deed of right, and 
the prickings of this conscience Mr. HoFFECKER always 
heeded and seldom disregarded. 

A man like Mr. Hoffecker exercises a salutary influence 
wherever he may he. He would have been a most valuable 
addition to the membership of this House had his life been 
prolonged. His death is a clear loss to us all. as individuals 
and as a Congress. The nation suffers when such a man 
dies, and however great the loss of his family and friends. 
such loss is small compared with the loss of the whole nation, 
and that loss 1. in common with his fellow-members, feel and 
deplore, and I would not have felt satisfied had I not borne 
this tribute to his record, his virtues, and his memory. 






Address of Mr. Norton, of Ohio. 37 



ADDRESS OF MR NORTON, OF OHIO. 

Mr. Speaker: It is with no perfunctory sense of duty that I 
rise to-day to speak in this hushed chamber in memory of one 
who has sat with us aforetime and whose presence among us 
was a blessing and a cheer. 

Though it is a sad pleasure, I esteem it a privilege to pay my 
tribute of friendship and regard to the cherished memory of 
John H. Hoffecker. 

When on the summer day the news flashed over the trem- 
bling wires that again death had claimed one of our number, 
there was not alone mourning in the home in Delaware beneath 
the rooftree of which quietly lay the lifeless form of a husband 
and father, but out through the district he represented, cross- 
ing the border lines of the State he cherished, to the limit of our 
nation's domain, a wave of sorrow rolled, and many a heart 
surged and swelled with sorrow at the loss of a loved compan- 
ion and friend. 

It is a trite saying that ' ' Death loves a shining mark. ' ' Ever 
and anon amid the gloom, as darkening shadows hover over 
some stricken homes, do we recognize the truth of this saying; 
but it comes with peculiar significance to us when we remem- 
ber our friend to-day, for he was a friend to every member of 
this House with whom he came in contact. I speak no undue 
words of praise, no flattering phrase, but a simple tribute rec- 
ognized by each of us, when I speak of his genial spirit that 
endeared him to all. 

With the sturdy manliness of his nature, his independence 
and fearlessness in battling for his convictions of what was 
right, was joined the loving tenderness of a woman and the 



38 Life and Character of. John II. Hoftecker. 

sincerity of a child, and he he-Id his life to be spent for love and 
duty and right. 

There arc loyal hearts, there are spirits brave, 

There are souls that are pure and true. 
Who give to the world the best they have. 

And the best returns to them anew. 

This was the key of John Henry Hoffecker's life, and 
such influences as his are those that move the world. Ac- 
tive, energetic, busy in varied and diversified fields of enter- 
prise and usefulness, he prospered because he recognized the 
higher law of his being and conformed his whole life in 
accord therewith. He gave of himself, and in time's fruition 
he reaped rich harvest in the honor, esteem, friendship, and 
respect of his fellow-men. 

In the halls of Congress there is such wide divergence 
of thought, of disposition, temperament, and aims that but 
rarely is there one anion." us who draws to himself the 
admiration, friendship, or regard of all, but in the faithful 
discharge of duty, in diligent attention to every interest com- 
mitted to his trust, he was recognized by everyone as an 
honest man, while his personality commanded respect and 
drew forth the warmer sentiments of friendship and esteem. 

As travelers on Indian seas catch sweet fragrance wafted 
to them over the blue waters of the deep as they pass the 
spice-crowned islands, so from the life of Mr. HOFFECKER 
the most casual acquaintance caught and felt the silent, 
subtle influence of his character, while to his friends and 
intimates in the sessions of our committee meetings a sweet 
benediction was shed in all his goings forth and comings m. 

With the hope of immortality glowing in his soul, he passed 
away, and now ill blissful realization of the dreams of life. 
hope and faith breaking into knowledge, perchance, gazing 
over the battlements of heaven, his earth-freed spirit notes 



Address of Mr, Norton, of Ohio. 39 

our offerings to his memory to-day and with beckoning hand 
points us to the path he trod. 

Time runs on ; the sun breaks day by day in the eastern 
horizon ; the stars come nightly to the sky ; day and night 
pass, bringing us all nearer to life's end. Well may it be with 
us if that our lives may be like his — a call to nobler aims, to 
higher and loftier conceptions of duty, and a radiant memory 
to those who follow us. 



40 Life and Character of John H. Hoffecker, 



Address of Mr. Crumpacker, of Indiana. 

Mr. Speaker: Few members of this body had an oppor- 
tunity to know the real character and worth of the Hon. John 
H. Hoffecker, because- his services as a Representative l>egan 
with the present Congress. It was my fortune in drawing a 
seat to be located near him, and my acquaintance with him 
dated from the opening day of the first session. I saw and 
conversed with him almost every day during that session, and 

I soon learned to respect his high character and his must pleas- 
ing personality. He was always at his post of duty, and he 
watched the proceedings in the House with unusual interest 
and with a degree of seriousness that bespoke a high appre- 
ciation of tin- responsibilities that rest upon the shoulders <>t 
those who have control of the most important interests of the 
American people. 

Under the rules ami traditions of this bodj a member of 
so short a term of service has little opportunity to actively 
engage in the consideration of measures on the floor, and Mr. 
HOFFECKEK took little or no part in the debates, but I 
hazard nothing in saying that he never cast a vote upon any 
proposition that his judgment and conscience did not go 
with it. 

He brought to the discharge of his public duties a high pur- 
pose .mil a clear, well-balanced mind. He carried close to his 
heart the highest interests of the people he was called to serve. 

II combined a rare fund of experience with tin best and purest 
qualities of mind and he. in. He was not an orator, nor did he 
have the genius of statesmanship that foresees conditions an.! 
devises measures and plans in advance of the great current of 



Address of Mr. Crumpacker, of Indiana. 41 

thought and action, but he did have the noble qualities of 
rugged manhood that make for the strength and glory of our 
civilization. 

The figures of ornamentation artistically woven into the fab- 
ric of humanity please and gratify a refined sense, yet the real 
virtue of the fabric consists in the warp and woof that give it 
strength and utility. The orator, the poet, the painter, the 
sculptor minister to the imagination, but the real grandeur of 
human life is in the earnest qualities of mind and soul that 
carry forward and upward the vital interests of mankind. The 
noble men and women who go about from da}- to day conscien- 
tiously performing each duty in turn as it comes most fully 
express the great purposes of life. They are the bone and 
sinew of the present, the prop and prophecy of the future. 
They are the motive power of progress, the wall of adamant 
in the protection and preservation of human virtues. They 
fight the battles of freedom. They make its blessings a liv- 
ing reality. They chasten transgression from a sense of duty. 
■They mitigate misfortune from the promptings of love. The 
irresistible onsweep of those lives is the true history of the 
human race and constitutes the mighty forces of social and 
intellectual progress. 

Mr. Hoffecker was of the best of this type, and he won 
the confidence and esteem of his countrymen by the magic 
of his sturdy virtues. His was a life of activity and useful- 
ness, and there can be no higher testimony to his capacity and 
integrity than that the most important interests of men were 
intrusted to his charge. He never broke a faith or betrayed 
a trust. 

Measured by standards both divine and human, he was truly 
great, because in all the relations of life he fulfilled all the 
requirements of his situation. He made the highest and the 



42 Life and Character of John Lf. Hoffeckcr. 

best use of the talents committed to his keeping, and what 
mortal man has ever clone more? He was of German extrac- 
tion, and he embodied the best characteristics of his race — a 
race that constitutes the real background of the world's best 
civilization. 

The popular standard of greatness is in a large degree a 
counterfeit. Only humanity is great, and no conspicuous leader 
in history ever moved the current of human life into new chan- 
nels until humanity itself had prepared the way. 

The glory of the forest is not measured by the mighty oak 
that may here and there tower in majesty above its surround- 
ings, but by the splendor of the great masses that stand in 
unison in grateful welcome of sunshine and rain and in stern 
and stubborn resistance of storm and temj>est. 

Mr. HoFFECKEK is gone, but he has left a heritage that will 
live forever — the heritage of an earnest, devoted life. His 
memory may not be embalmed in poetry and song, but his 
influence will live and leaven as long as the human mind has 
ambitions and the human heart has affections. 

Past the allotted three score years and ten, he departed 
beyond the vale, and closed a life rich in a wealth of achieve- 
ment in the most vital concerns of the world. His life work 
is his most enduring monument and its simple recital his most 
eloquent encomium. He died as he lived, with a firm faith 
in the Master whose virtues he so well exemplified. 

To hi-- Min, who is his esteemed successor in this body, and 
tn his other descendants his example will serve as an inspira- 
tion in all of life's activities in a peculiar sense. The h'ss oi 
such a man is society's greatest sacrifice. 



Address of Mr, Miers, of Indiana. 43 



Address of Mr. Miers, of Indiana. 

Mr. Speaker: On June 16, 1900, the inhabitants of Smyrna 
were shocked by the announcement of the sudden death of Hon. 
John H. Hoffecker. Such an announcement is always start- 
ling to any community. It was more so in this case by reason 
of the fact that Mr. Hoffecker had lived among the people of 
that village for nearly three-quarters of a century. He had 
gone in and out before them, had lived a model life, had been 
an active participant in all church affairs, in all business enter- 
prises, and in everything that was good and true in that com- 
munity. He had risen to the topmost round in the affection of 
his neighbors. He had carried on business half a century in 
that village, and had on all occasions been just, not only to 
himself, but to his neighbors and all who dealt with him. 

No just call for charity was ever turned from his door. His 
every action, so far as public business was concerned, as well as 
that of his private enterprise, was always measured by the spirit 
of the Golden Rule. He was honored by his neighbors in 
church and local affairs. He was chosen president of the Fruit 
Growers' Bank, president of a transportation company, a 
director of a railroad company, and was prominent in all 
affairs that went to build the village and better the country. 
Aye, Mr. Speaker, he had been chosen by the good will of 
the people president and director of the good morals and good 
growth and best interests of the beautiful little city in which 
he had spent his life. In 1888 his fellow-citizens elected him 
a member of the State legislature, and he was honored by 
election to the speakership. He performed the duties of 
that high and responsible position with great ability and 



44 Life and Character of John H. Hoffecka . 

credit and to the entire satisfaction of his friends and 
admirers. There were still higher honors to he thrust upon 
him. 

He was elected and took his seat as a member of the Fifty- 
sixth Congress. Although his service was short and unpre- 
tentious, I dare say no member was more attentive to duty, 
responded to more roll calls, or was present more hours during 
st-ssioiis of the House than he; and perhaps no other member 
could have given a better or more satisfactory and conscientious 
reason for each and every vote cast than he. 

It was my good fortune. Mr. Speaker, to have known him 
rather intimately, by reason of the fact of our associations on 
the Committee of Invalid Pensions. I desire to say now, 
judging from his conduct, as I remember it. he realized fully 
his responsibility — to prevent the extravagant use of the peo- 
ple's money on the one side; to be fair and just to suffering 
humanity upon the other. 

There were the nation's defenders, some armless, some limb- 
ics--, some drawn and racked with pain, and nearly all grown 
old and needy. Their claims were pending, and he. with his 
great heart and with his foresight, must pass upon them. I 
believe that he passed on every one as conscientiouslj as is 
portrayed by the old picture of the Goddess of Justice. Mind- 
folded and feeling one side and then the other to ascertain 
which way the weight of evidence was. Mr. Speaker and 
gentlemen, his great desire was to do jusl tween the 

great Government and these poor old soldiers, but always giv- 
ing the benefit of the doubt to the nation- defenders 

At the close of the session, in yonder lobby I took him 
by the hand and bade li i 111 good-bye, wishing for him a 
pleasant and happy vacation and hoping to meet him here at 
the short session, in December, robust and vigorous for its 



Address of Mr. Miers, of Indiana. 45 

duties. But it was not to be ; an all-wise Provideuee decreed 
otherwise, and we bow in humble submission. It illustrates 
the uncertainty of life and the certainty of death, and we must 
all realize now that he who would meet and greet Mr. Hof- 
FECKER can no more do it on this earth, but it must be in the 
great beyond, on the other side, in eternity, where we are all 
trending. None can escape the summons, and when the call 
is made we can not put it off. 

May we, Mr. Speaker, who remain, emulate his virtues, 
which were many, prominent, and strong. May we not fol- 
low in his footsteps of righteousness and attention to duty and 
hope that we may round out a beautiful life, as he did at the 
end of seventy-three years, honored, loved, and respected by 
all who knew us, and may it be said of us as we say of him 
to-day — we are better for having known and loved so good 
a man. 



46 Life and Character of John H. Hoffecker. 



ADDRESS OF MR. SULLOWAY, OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

Mr. Speaker: The .^rim reaper, with his unseen but mighty 
power, lias reaped a rich harvest in the past two years among 
the members of this House. Many men have been gathered 
silently in and have passed into that mysterious beyond. As 
we stand to day and look back at the past the forms of our 
■ted friends and associates seem to rise before us. and their 
brilliant careers, their ennobling qualities, and their sterling 
characters stand as beacon lights to guide us safely through 
tin- tempestuous seas of life. Their lives, pure, honest, and 
upright, ever remind us that — 

I >. ith li >\i - .1 ^hininn mark. 

Of all those who have been called and are now sleeping the 
last sleep there are none whom we shall miss more oi whose 
memory we will hold dearer than our friend and departed 
ciate, Hon. John Henry Hoffecker, late a member of Con- 
gress from the State of Delaware. Although he had passed 
the allotted three score and ten, he was full of life, active and 
alert, a man of splendid physique and noble attainments. The 
cares of life had rested lightly upon him. His lace had almost 
the freshness of youth, and his step was clastic as that of a 
young man. 

1 shall always look back with pleasure upon my acquaint- 
ance with the late Congressman Hoffecker, tor it was a 

pleasure ami an inspiration to know him as I have known 
him. Associated as I was with him on the Committi 
Invalid Pensions, i came in contact with him almost daily, and 
learned to know him well and to appreciate his splendid 
qualities. To know him was to love and admire him. for 



Address of Mr. Sulloway, of New Hampshire. 47 

he was a most companionable man, being always genial, 
courteous, and affable. He was exceedingly prompt in his 
attendance at all meetings of the committee, and took great 
interest in the work that came before him. 

While he was quiet, unostentatious, modest, and unassum- 
ing in his manners, it did not take those associated with him 
long to discover that he was possessed of sound judgment, 
good sense, and great logic. His advice and counsel always 
commanded the greatest respect, and his views carried much 
weight. He was honest, fearless, and candid in his opinions, 
and always stood unflinchingly for that which he believed to 
be right. He was a man of deeds rather than of words, and 
measured his efforts by the results he obtained. 

John Henry Hoffecker was a man who could but com- 
mand the respect of every man he came in contact with. 
His kindly face and pleasing ways attracted all to him. It 
is no cause for wonder that he occupied a high position in 
his native State and was honored and loved by his constit- 
uency. It was but a just tribute to his sterling manhood 
and true Christian character. 

In politics Mr. Hoffecker was an active and earnest 
Republican, and was one of the "Old Guard" of that politi- 
cal faith in Delaware. He was a delegate to the Republican 
national convention in 1S76, and again at Chicago in 1884. 
He was elected to the State legislature of Delaware in 188S, 
and was honored by being chosen the speaker of the house 
of representatives. He held many other positions of honor 
and trust in that State, and to every public trust he was 
faithful and conscientious in the discharge of his duty. 

The voters of Delaware by a handsome majority elected 
Mr. Hoffecker as their Representative to the Fifty-sixth 
Congress, and it was in the midst of a useful and honorable 



48 Life and Character of John If. Hoffecker. 

career that his life was closed by death. Mr. HOFFECKER 
one of the sturdy and substantial citizens of this great 
country of ours — one of the bone and sinew, one of the tried 
and true. He was true to himself and true to his friends. 
He was popular with his associates on the committee and 
with the members of this House. 

His death came as a shock to us all, and while the loss 
was greater to his family circle and long personal friends, 
and to the State which he so ably represented, it was also 
great to this legislative body, and especially to the commit t e 
of which he was such an active and honored member. No 
man would have been more missed from its deliberations, 
and it fills our hearts with sorrow and sadness when we 
think that never again will we look into his frank and 
honest face, or never again hear the tones of his pleasant 
and cheering voice. Truly, he was one of nature's noblemen 
and one for whom we shall all sincerely mourn. 



Address of Mr. Skattuc, of Ohio. 49 



ADDRESS OF MR. SHATTUC, OF OHIO. 

Mr. Speaker: To the large number of his associates in Con- 
gress who, like myself, had the valued privilege of knowing the 
late Representative John H. Hoffecker intimately well — and, 
indeed, to every gentleman in this body, of which he was so 
faithful and prominent a member — the shock of the suddenness 
of his demise at his home in Delaware last summer will be 
vividly and sadly recalled by these tributes of respect and love 
which we to-day pay his memory. 

The location of his apartments in this city while in attend- 
ance upon the sessions of Congress made of him a close neigh- 
bor of mine, and our cordial relations with each other were 
added to and made more pleasurable by this fortunate circum- 
stance during the long period in which I enjoyed his society; 
and I feel a sense of gratitude that I was thus enabled to 
enjoy his companionship when our duties in this Chamber did 
not interfere with our pleasant and, to me, profitable inter- 
course. 

Mr. Hoffecker possessed that sincere cordiality of manner, 
that nobleness of character, inborn politeness, considerate kind- 
ness and geniality for everyone with whom he came in contact 
which is epitomized and best described in the phrase, "a gen- 
tleman of the old school." While I have seldom met anyone 
whose appearance has so impressed me with respect and confi- 
dence as did his, his personality and character commanded the 
respect and confidence which his appearance inspired, and much 
of the sincere regard and friendship that came to him were 
begotten of his own sincerity and confidence in mankind. 
H. Doc. 520 4 



50 Life and Character of John If. Hoffecker. 

His long and exceptionally successful career as a man of 
affairs, his energetic service in various important enterprises in 
the mercantile world, his public life, and his great trust in men, 
with his natural kindliness of heart and nobility of character, 
combined to create in him what a famous philosopher aptly 
terms ''a wide affinity" which impelled him naturally and 
without effort, with neither deferer.ee nor condescension, to be 
to the great and less of the world, to the high and low, .always 
the same courtly, genial, amiable gentleman. 

His home life was beautiful and inspiring in its refinement 
and simplicity, and the same noble qualities which brought to 
him the love of his friends were possessed by his devoted wife 
and children. Indeed. I do not think there existed a more 
touching example of the best American home life in its Chris- 
tianity and culture and devoted love than was formed by this 
family, and in the demise of the kind and loving husband ami 
father they are indeed sorely bereaved. 

( Uhers here will speak of his valuable and faithful services in 
this House. Seldom has "the common duty of each day been 
more uncommonly well done" than by Mr. Hoffecker. His 
capacity for ceaseless work was remarkable, his large private 
interests combining with his duties here to keep him constantly 
engaged, while his interest in humanity and his unselfish desire 
to help others less fortunate impelled him to find ample time to 
help countless of his acquaintances ; and it was while faithfully 
attending to his duties as a Representative of his people that he 
1 away. 

Ills personality and character won for him countless friends 
in all walks of life, who sincerely loved him and who deeply 
mourn the loss of hi-- companionship and of tin- helpfulness 
of his Christian character and great kind heart; and though 

in.iux of them could praise his virtues more eloqucnth than 



Address of Mr. Shattuc, of Ohio. 51 

I, yet none could be more grateful for the friendship of the 
companion who has been called away and whose memory I 
revere. 

The Speaker pro tempore. As a further mark of respect to 
the memory of the deceased member in tribute of whom these 
proceedings have been held, the House, in pursuance of its reso- 
lutions, stands adjourned until Monday next at 12 o'clock m. 

And accordingly (at 5 o'clock and 30 minutes p. m.) the 
House adjourned. 



Proceedings in the Senate. 

December 3, 1900. 
A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. W. J. 
Browning, its Chief Clerk, transmitted to the Senate resolu- 
tions on the death of Cushman K. Davis, late a Senator from 
the State of Minnesota; Hon. John H. Gear, late a Senator 
from the State of Iowa; Hon. John H. Hoffecker, late a 
Representative from the State of Delaware, and Hon. William 
D. Daly, late a Representative from the State of New Jersey. 

January 30, 1901. 
Mr. Kenney. Mr. President, I wish to give notice that on 
Saturday, the 16th of February, I will call up the resolutions 
of the House of Representatives announcing the death of my 
late colleague in the House, Hon. John H. Hoffecker, and 
will ask the Senate to suspend its proceedings in order that 
fitting tribute may be paid to his memory. 

February 13, 1901. 
Mr. Kenney. Mr. President, on January 30 I gave notice 
to the Senate that on February 16, 1901, I should call up the 
resolutions of the House of Representatives announcing the 
death of Hon. John H. Hoffecker, late a Representative 
from 1115- State. 

I desire to change that time to Saturday, February 23, to 
follow the consideration of the resolutions notice of which 

53 



54 Proceedings in the Sc/ia/i . 

has been given by the Senator from New Hampshire [Mr. 

Chandler]. 

February 18, 1901. 
A message from the House transmitting to the Senate reso- 
lutions of the House commemorative of the life and public 
services of Hon. John H. HOFFECKBR, late a Representative 
from the State of Delaware. 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES. 

FEBRUARY 23, 1901. 

Mr. KENNEY. I ask the Chair to lay before the Senate the 
resolutions of the House of Representatives relative to the 
death of the late Representative from the State of Delaware, 
Hon. John H. Hoffecker. 

The Presiding Officer (Mr. Hansbrough in the chair). 
The Chair lays before the Senate resolutions from the House of 
Representatives, which will be read. 

The Secretary read as follows: 

In the House of Representatives, February 16, igoi. 

Resolved, That the business of the House be now suspended, that op- 
portunity may be given for tribute to the memory of Hon. John H. Hof- 
FECKER, late a member of the House of Representatives from the State of 
Delaware. 

Resolved, That as a particular mark of respect to the memory of the 
deceased, and in recognition of his eminent abilities as a distinguished 
public servant, the House, at the conclusion of these exercises, shall stand 
adjourned. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the Senate. 

Resolved, That the Clerk be instructed to send a copy of these resolu- 
tions to the family of the deceased. 

Mr. Kenney. I offer the resolutions which I send to the 
desk, and ask that they be read. 

The Presiding Officer. The resolutions submitted by the 
Senator from Delaware will be read. 

The Secretary read as follows: 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow the an- 
nouncement of the death of Hon. John H. Hoffecker, late a Represent- 
ative from the State of Delaware. 

Resolved, That the business of the Senate be now suspended, in order 
that fitting tribute be paid to his memory. 

55 



56 Life and Character of John II. Hoffecker, 



ADDRESS OF MR. KENNEY, OF DELAWARE. 

Mr. President: We dispense with the business of the day 
in order that we may pay tribute to the memory of a distin- 
guished citizen of my State — John Henry Hoffecker —who 
died on the morning of June [6 last, and at the time of his 
.1 was a member of the House of Representatives. 

Mr. HOFFECKER was horn near Smyrna, Del., on the i-Uh 
day nt September, [827. His father, Joseph V. Hoffecker, was 
a gentleman of culture- and refinement, and his family connec- 
tions were of wide extent in the community in which he was 
born, lived, and died. The mother of the deceased Represent- 
ative was a lady noted for her piety and the many attributes 
that go to make up the grand character of worshipful mother- 
hood. His father and mother were both long, Useful, and 
consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
died with a full belief in the consoling doctrine of that denom- 
ination. 

Mr. Hoffecker, whose start in life was in an humble way, 
v energy, thrift, and economy accumulated a competencj . 
and being- recognized as a business man <>t more than ordin.ir\ 
capacity, he was, at the time of his death and for a long time 
previous therein, president of several corporations and a direc- 
tor in others, not large in their workings, but all interested in 
and striving for the advancement of the community in which 
lie so long lived. 

The bent of Mr. HOFFECKER'S mind was not in a political 
direction, and. beyond holding for man} years the presidency 
of the council in the town in which he lived, he held no 
political office until the yeai [888, when he was elected to the 
legislature and was chosen speaker of tin.- house.-, presiding, as 



Address of Mr. Kenney, of Delaware. 57 

was universally acknowledged, with a degree of ability and 
fairness which won for him unstinted praise. 

He was nominated for Congress by the conventions of the 
Republican party, and, notwithstanding the fact that great dis- 
sensions existed in his party over certain matters in dispute, 
he was honored with a united support and elected by a large 
majority. 

In all that I may say in praise of the life and character and 
manly attributes of him of whom I speak, I have no fear but 
that a universal sanction and a heartfelt response will come 
from the people of Delaware, whom I have the distinguished 
honor to represent in this body. I shall not attempt to deliver 
an undeserved eulogy. The sincerity of his character, supple- 
mented by his own history and example and attested by the 
loyalty and friendship of those who had known him long, leaves 
to me an easy task when I arise to address you in commemora- 
tion of the life of John Henry Hoffecker. 

As a citizen he was trusted and beloved; as a kind and in- 
dulgent husband and father his example is worthy of emula- 
tion: as a member of the church of his choice he was faithful 
and zealous, and to all whose good fortune it was to be brought 
in contact with him he was ever kind and courteous. Whilst 
many years of usefulness for him were looked forward to by his 
friends, and possibly by himself, he had reached that age when 
it may be said his sun went down at eventide. 

At the time of his death the Republican national convention 
was in session in Philadelphia, and he was preparing to leave 
his home in order to attend it. Complaining to his wife of not 
feeling very well, she thought it advisable for him to take some 
medicine, and left him for a little while to procure it. When 
she returned life was extinct. 

God's finger touched him and he slept. 



58 Life and t 'haracti r of John II. Hoffi < kt > . 

"Not a moment in the dark valley or the shadow between 
the two worlds," he closed his eyes upon the joys of time to 
open them upon the brighter visions of eternity. His was — 

A faith that shines more bright and clear 

When tempests rage without, 
That whin in danger knows no fear, 

In darkness knows no doubt. 

I was honored by being named as one of the committee 
representing the Senate on the funeral occasion, and was 
greatly impressed by the respect shown his memory by the 
community in which all his life had been passed. The 
business of the town was suspended and all the stores and 
factories were closed, and in looking upon those who 
attended the obsequies and followed the remains to its last 
resting place, I concluded that the regard of those who had 
known him exceeded admiration and reached the bond of 
affection. Differing with him politically, it is perhaps better 
that I should leave unsaid, just at this time, some things 
that my heart is inclined to utter in recognition ('if his kind- 
ness and goodness, lest my motives should be misconstrued. 
He sleeps in the soil of his native State. His memory will 
Ion- remain fresh and green in the hearts of his people, 
and in closing this imperfect eulogy of the deceased there 
comes to my mind the words of that beautiful and familiar 
hymn : 

How blest the righteous when he .lies' 

When sink-, a weary sou] to rest, 
How mildly beam the closing eyes, 

How gently heaves the expiring breast! 

So fades .1 summer cloud awaj 

s.' sinks the gale when storms are o'er; 
So gently shuts the eye .if day; 
S.. .lies a wave along tlie -' : 






Address of Mr. Kcnncy, of Delaware. 59 

A hoi)- quiet reigns around, 

A calm which life nor death destroys ; 
And naught disturbs that peace profound 

Which his unfettered soul enjoys. 

Farewell conflicting hopes and fears 

Where lights and shades alternate dwell ; 
How bright the unchanging morn appears ! 

Farewell, inconstant world, farewell! 

Life's labor done, as sinks the day, 

Light from its load the spirit flies, 
While heaven and earth combine to say, 

"How blest the righteous when he dies!" 



6o Life and Character of John //. Hoffecker. 



ADDRESS OF MR. MCCOMAS, OF MARYLAND. 

Mr. President: My acquaintance with the deceased member 
of the House of Representatives, John Henry Hoffecker, 

was not intimate. His service was limited to one term, and 
one session of that term in the coordinate legislative branch of 
the Government. I had before learned the high esteem enter- 
tained for Mr. Hoffecker in his own State. He had been 
the speaker of the house of representatives of that State during 
an exciting period. He had been a man of business prior to 
that time and during years thereafter. His life centered in 
common duties and private affairs at home, those of a business 
character and those of a political character, limited in si 
and local in opportunity for the exercise of his powers. 

Manifestly he had gained the confidence of his fellow-men 
during a life which began and ended in the vicinity where he 
spent the d.ays of his life, except when called hither by public 
duty, at Smyrna. Del., a most interesting and beautiful town i:i 
that interesting State — one of the smallest States in the Union, 
which yet has furnished many remarkable men to the Federal 
service of our country in earlier and later times. This old 
State comprises p. tit of the lovely peninsula which makes up a 
large part of my own State. All my life I have been near to 
and observed those people, their earnest and sturdy character, 
and with satisfaction I have watched the not rapid but per- 
sistent growth of that peninsular Commonwealth. 

Mr. Hoffecker, of Delaware, was not only a good man in 
his relations at home, but he was a good man in the community 
in which he lived. He was reputed to be a man of strong 



Address of Mr. McComas, of Maryland. 61 

character and a man of sterling integrity. He attached himself 
to that religious faith which predominates in that peninsula, 
the Methodist Church, where that denomination retains the 
pristine vigor of that remarkable religious society, and where 
the characteristics of the Methodist faith are more frequently 
found imprinted upon the lives of the followers of that faith 
than almost any locality that now occurs to my memory. 

He was not only trusted at home, but he was trusted in 
the affairs of his State; and in a most exciting period, as the 
Senator from Delaware [Mr. Kenuey] said, Mr. Hoffeckkr 
became the candidate of his party for Congress. I met him 
then only casually, and I was impressed with the sturdy and 
sterling worth of this new man in Federal politics. What 
he might have performed by long service can not now be 
known. 

After a long and exacting session he returued to his 
home, wearied by his patient, conscientious, and faithful 
devotion to his work in committee by never-ceasing demands 
of his constituency and by attention upon the floor of the 
House. At his time of life — for he was over 73 years of 
age — with his sense of responsibility in public affairs, the 
burden of his duties here bore more heavily upon him than 
they would have borne upon a man trained to endurance by 
longer service. I have no doubt that the exactions of that 
service in a long, busy session, coming to a man not experi- 
enced in the life here, wore out the remnant of his vigor and 
vitality; and, having gone home after the close of the session, 
he died suddenly, and was at rest. 

The people of his home and of his State mourn him not 
lightly, but seriously. He was beloved among the people 
of his community and beloved by the people of Delaware 
and even beyond the lines of his State. In my own State 



62 Life and Character of John //. Hoffecker. 

Mr. Hoffecker had many friends who held him in high 
esteem and who cherish his memory. 

His life and labors have won the tribute that belongs to a 
1:1.111 of purpose, of industry, of honor, and religious convic- 
tions. According to hi^ faith, and so far as he had talents, 
he led a life of public usefulness and a life of private 
integrity and dignity. Mourned by his friends, trusted and 
remembered by his State, and sincerely regretted by those 
who served with him under the roof of this Capitol, he sud- 
denly ended his public career and has entered into his rest. 



Address of Mr. Allen, of Nebraska, 63 



Address of Mr. Allen, of Nebraska. 

Mr. President: I find a brief epitome of the life of John 
Henry Hoffecker in the Congressional Directory of last 
session, which I will read: 

John Henry Hoffecker, Republican, of Smyrna, was born Septem- 
ber 12, 1S27, at Mansion House, on a farm near that town; attended public 
and private schools in Smyrna, Del., graduated in civil engineering and 
trained in field practice with Nehemiah Clark, esq., public surveyor; in 
1853 opened an office in Smyrna, Del., as surveyor and conveyancer, and 
pursued the business continuously to 18S9; was elected delegate to the 
Republican national convention at Cincinnati in 1876, and at Chicago in 
1884; was elected a member of the general assembly in 1S8S, and on the 
1st da}- of January, 18S9, was chosen speaker of the house of representa- 
tives; was elected president of town council in 1878, and served continu- 
ously by reelection to 1S98; was elected director of the Fruit Growers' 
National Bank of Smyrna at its organization in 1S76; has been reelected 
each year since; was chosen president of the institution in 1S91, and is 
still holding that position; was instrumental in the establishment of a 
large factory in Smyrna for hermetically sealed goods, which are largely 
exported to Europe; the factory bears date 1867, and gives employment 
largely to women and children during the fruit season of each year; was 
elected to the Fifty-sixth Congress, receiving 17,566 votes to 15,053 for 
L. Irving Handy, Democrat, and 398 for L. W. Brosius, Prohibitionist. 

Mr. President, my acquaintance with the deceased statesman 
began and ended with his service in the other branch of Con- 
gress. Early upon his entrance into the Fifty-sixth Congress 
I became acquainted with him. I was frequently thrown into 
his society, and learned by conversation and by association of 
his many virtues and of his high character. 

I gather from the brief history I have just read that his 
life was one of great activity. He perhaps did not shine in 
political circles as other illustrious sons of Delaware have 
shone, but that he made his impress upon his State and 
upon the nation I think can not be questioned. 



64 Life and Character of John II. Hoffecker. 

Mr. I l'n 1 1 ;cker was a Republican. There were no quali- 
fications in his political belief. IK- was a believer in the 
tenets of his party. As the whole world knows. I am not a 
Republican, and have nothing about me savoring of Repub- 
lican ideas; and yet among the warmest personal friends I have 
and have had during my life are those with whom I disagree 
politically. 

When we come to the brink of the grave and to speak 
of the life, the virtues, and the character of a deceased 
friend, politics must be put aside, and the true life of the 
man alone revealed. 

Mr. HOFFECKER was a man of business: he was a man 
of affairs, lie had evidently given some slight attention to 
political matters; but I take it he did not engage in an 
extensive study of political problems, but accepted largely 
the faith of his party from those having in charge its poli- 
cies and its platforms. And yet I must do him the credit 
of saying, from my slight knowledge of him. that he was 
amply capable of solving all problems that presented them- 
selves to him. 

It is difficult, Mr. President, for me to speak of the dead. 
I have seen dead and wounded Upon the field of battle, 
five and six thousand men, and yet that scene, horrible as 
it was and horrible as it must always be. if it should 1 
again, did not impress me and does not impress me with 
those feelings that come to me when I see a human being 
Struggling for his life with disease. 

Mi Hoffecker was a man ripe in years, a man of large 
experience, a man whose domestic relations were of the purest 
character; and there, Mr. President, the true man shims out 
and is known at his lust. I am told that at his fireside no man 
was more interesting, no man more indulgent, no man more 



Address of Mr. Allen, of Nebraska. 65 

loving, no man more affectionate. No man guarded the name 
of his home and the dignity of his family to a greater extent 
than John Henry Hoffecker. 

Here, Mr. President, I must leave this man. I leave him, as 
I must leave those who precede me from the shores of time to 
those of eternity, in sadness and in sorrow. 

Mr. Hoffecker was a man who lived in the faith and died 

in the faith of the Christian religion; and I want again in this 

sacred presence to announce my belief in the immortality of 

the human soul and in the accountability of all God's creatures 

in the future for their conduct on earth. He was a strong 

believer in the Methodist Church, one of the great Christian 

organizations of this country. He died in the faith of that 

church, and I have reason to believe that his life was such 

as to induce him to face the future without any question as to 

the result. 

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, 

For, yea, henceforth they shall rest from their labors, 

And their works do follow them. 

And in that faith this good man, full of years and full of 

good works, passed into eternity, trusting to the future alone. 

H. Doc. ,520 5 



66 Life and Character of John H. Hoffecker. 



ADDRESS OF MR. HEITFELD, OF IDAHO. 

Mr. President : It is probably true that no man. be he ever 
so generous, public spirited, and noble, can hope to make him- 
self indispensable to the community in which he lives, but there- 
arc those whose loss, when death claims them and we are forced 
to give them up, causes us to feel a keener grief and a more 
enduring sorrow than is usually felt at the last sad parting. 

At rare intervals men are encountered who have so shaped 
their lives that their fellow-men are permitted to share the 
blessings with which they have been endowed by an All-wise 
Providence; men who have not spent their lives for their own 
betterment alone, but who have so bent their energies that their 
successes are the successes of the communities in which they 
live. Such a man was John Henkv HOFFECKER, of Delaware, 
and for the loss of such a one does Delaware now mourn. 

Mr. President, I will not attempt to enumerate his many 
public services; that can be better and more properly done by 
his colleagues. It is sufficient to say that he always performed 
his duties well. 

Mr. Hoffecker was a native-born citizen of the State which 
he represented with such marked ability. From early manho* d 
he showed a disposition to extend a helping hand to those with 

whom Ik- came in contact, and to pi. ice a means of livelihood 
within the reach of those of hi^ community less favored than he 
with natural ability, all of which endeared him to bis neigh- 
bors. As Ik- developed with age and experience Ik- lost none 
.if those rare traits of character which had blessed his surround- 
ings, but broadened the field of their usefulness. His whole 

life, which was one of prosperit) and success, wis s, i spent as to 



Address of Mr, Hcitfcld, of Idaho. 67 

make happy and prosperous the lives of those with whom he 
had to do. 

His public service was such as to be properly rewarded with 
promotion and advancement, and he was promoted and ad- 
vanced until, when death summoned him from among us, the 
blow fell not on Delaware alone, but caused the nation to join 
the State in a common sorrow. 

Mr. Hoffecker lived to a mature age, and his life was so 
spent that in looking back upon it he could enjoy that price- 
less blessing to be derived from the contemplation of a task 
well done, of a duty well discharged. 

Let the memory of the noble deeds he did live after him ; 
his soul has gone to its eternal reward ; his bod} - is interred 
in the soil of the State which he lined and served, where it 
now rests to await the resurrection of the dead. 

Mr. President, I move the adoption of the resolutions. 

The Presiding Officer. The question is on the adoption 
of the resolutions submitted by the Senator from Delaware 
[Mr. Kenney] . 

The resolutions were unanimously agreed to. 



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